News: Iranian society

Iran: Huge Portion of Population Faces Lack of Access to Clean Water

Written by Amir Taghati on 29 January 2019.

By Amir Taghati

The people of Iran have had to face many hardships in the past few years. They have been suffering the consequences of the Iranian regime’s neglect of domestic issues in favour of conflicts and exploits abroad. The social services in the country are falling to pieces and more and more people are falling into the absolute poverty category.

The latest problem that many Iranians are facing is something that people from all over the world take for granted every day – access to clean drinking water. Estimates indicate that more than three-quarters of the population – around 80 per cent to be more precise – will be affected.

This will, of course, cause further unrest in the country that has been visibly discontent for more than 12 months. Starting at the end of 2017, protests and anti-government demonstrations were held across the country throughout last year and analysts believe that further violent unrest threatens to erupt at any time.

The warning about the major lack of access to potable water was made by the Iranian parliament’s Research Center. Their report on the subject indicated that almost half (46 per cent) of the country’s population already faces problems in this regard. The report warned: “As a result of the drinking water crisis, some cities saw scenes of unrest, creating challenges for the authorities.”

Indeed, in June last year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and police forces, fired at demonstrators in the city of Khorramshahr. The exasperated people were protesting about their lack of access to clean water and there were a number of casualties and one fatality. This kind of incident happened across the country.

The people suffering from a water shortage are spread across Iran in hundreds of cities and the situation is set to get much worse.

The report by the Research Center states that by 2021 another 15 million more Iranians will have restrictions to the clean water that is available to them. It is estimated that the crisis will have spread to 433 cities.

Even more worryingly, this crisis will be even worse if other factors such as climate change and a decrease in precipitation are worse than expected.

The environmental situation in Iran is similar to the political situation – turmoil and chaos are the main adjectives to describe how they currently are.

Despite the very many challenges that the Iranians face, the clerical regime is still dedicated to its exploits in the region. It spends billions on foreign wars and conflicts and it supports numerous terrorist proxy groups and militias.

The people have been calling for regime change because they know that there is no hope of their situation improving under the rule of the mullahs. It has had plenty of opportunities to reform or become more moderate, but it blows every chance it has. Furthermore, the people are being denied their right to voice their concerns about the regime, with countless protesters being systematically arrested, tortured, jailed or even executed.